Aviators Roll Past Sidney 13-1, Richardson Dominates Both Ways As Butler Heads Into Major Tests

SIDNEY — Sophomore Carson Heis handed Tate Richardson the ball in the third inning with a 2-1 lead and a job to do. Richardson did a little more than that Friday evening in Sidney.

The Butler righty proceeded to throw five innings of one-hit, zero-run baseball — striking out seven without issuing a single walk — and then, as if the pitching dominance wasn’t enough, stepped to the plate in the top of the seventh and launched a three-run homer to right field to cap a five-run inning.

Final score: Butler 13, Sidney 1.

It was the kind of two-way performance that makes coaches smile and opposing fans get a head start to the parking lot.

Butler drew first blood in the top of the first when Jack Egbert singled to center and Aidan White came around to score, giving the Aviators an early 1-0 lead. Butler pushed it to 2-0 in the second when Ketterer scored on a White fielder’s choice. Sidney scratched back with a run of their own in the bottom of the second to make it 2-1 — the closest they would ever get.

Heis finished his two innings having allowed just one run on four hits, striking out three. He handed a lead to Richardson, who never gave Sidney a reason to feel good about anything the rest of the afternoon.

White, who finished 3-for-5 with four runs scored, was a constant thorn in the Yellow Jacket’s side all afternoon — singling, stealing bases, and finding a way on base every time Butler needed a spark.

Butler added two in the fourth, one in the fifth, and three in the sixth as Sidney’s defense — charged with four errors on the day — repeatedly handed the Aviators extra outs and extra opportunities.

Butler made them pay every single time.

Egbert went 3-for-5 with a pair of doubles and three RBI. Paxton Dwenger may have finished 0-for-1 at the plate but reached base four times on three walks and a hit-by-pitch, doing the quiet dirty work that doesn’t show up in the highlight reel but absolutely shows up in the run column.

With the Aviators already leading comfortably, Butler sent nine batters to the plate in the top of the seventh and scored five runs to slam the door. Jackson Schilling delivered a bases-loaded single to left that plated two, and then Richardson — who had already thrown five innings of shutdown ball — dug in at the plate and put an exclamation point on the afternoon with a three-run shot to right.

Thirteen runs. Twelve hits. Zero errors. Four stolen bases. That’s a complete baseball game.

This is win number seven for Butler — and the schedule that follows is unforgiving.

The Defiance Bulldogs (4-0) come to town Saturday, a perennial D-III program that does not give opponents much to work with. Then the Aviators turn around for a pivotal Monday/Tuesday series against MVL rival Troy, who sits atop the league standings at 8-0 overall and 5-0 in league play.

The next three games are the ultimate measuring stick. Butler’s early mound dominance, the team’s patience at the plate, and the clean defense — suggests Butler is ready for exactly that kind of test.